Branding yoga hbr case study

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YOGA

Introduction

Who are the Key Players?

Bikram Choudhury

Professional Yoga Practitioner

of Indian originFounder of the eminent

Bikram Studios

Suhag Shukla

Managing Director of the Hindu American Foundation

 Hindu American Foundation (HAF)

Yoga Journal

Hindu American Foundation

The Hindu Advocacy

Group

in America

Yoga Journal

Popular Americanyoga magazine

In 2008, almost 16 million people in the U.S were practitioners of yoga

Their Practices ranged from

meditative to highly athletic styles

Net capital of Yoga Journal was

$5.7 billion

In 2010, the population of Hindus in the U.S was nearly 2 million

In 2008, HAF members examined Yoga Journal’s

editions

Saw no reference to Hinduism, or its Philosophy

Concluded that it associated other religions

with yoga more than it did Hinduism

In 2009, HAF Launched a campaign called

“Take Back Yoga-Bringing to Light

Yoga’s Hindu Roots”

Commercialization of

Yoga in America

Branding Of Yoga

In America

 Bikram‘s Approach: Hot Yoga

 Stiles’ Approach: Strala Yoga

Issues

Is yoga rooted in Hindu philosophy ?

Is yoga rooted

in Hindu

philosophy ?

The earliest records of apparent yoga practice were found in Indus Valley archaeological relics that dated

to the third millennium B.C.E.

They Included a seal depicting a man seated in lotus posture and a sculpture of a meditating

man in lotus.

EVIDENCE:

These evidences pre-dated some of the earliest

texts considered foundational to yoga……

The earliest Sanskrit verses (circa 1500-1000 B.C.E), known as the Vedas, contained some themes that may have been antecedents of

yoga theories and practices……

Vedas

The Bhagavad Gita (circa 300 B.C.E), part of an

epic known as the Mahabharata, was a

philosophical cornerstone for yoga……

EVIDENCE:

Written in verse, it was “a yogic teaching… conveyed from guru to student.”

Mahabharata

 The Yoga Sutras, a series of aphorisms authored by the Indian philosopher Patanjali, were also among yoga’s most important

precursors

 Dates for Patanjali were unclear, but historians believed the Yoga Sutras were most likely written after the Bhagavad Gita

Ashtana Yoga :

All of these texts are also sacred to Hinduism

 Chopra argued that:

Hinduism as a religion came centuries after the foundation of yoga in consciousness

And, as history claims…

Yoga pre-dates Hinduism

However

 The argument of Shukla was that “Hindu” was a 12th-century Persian abstraction “referring to the people they found espousing Santana Dharma, the eternal wisdom of life, ” and that “today, Santana

Dharma and Hinduism are synonymous.”

 Also, one historian noted that yoga was

“technically a part of three ‘world religions’:

Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism

Hence…

Yoga is rooted in Hindu

philosophy, and Hindu

philosophy is rooted in yoga,

but only a part of each.

Is Branding Yoga Justified?

 Awareness

 Diversity

 Specificity

Awareness

Branding Provides

Branding Yoga in America increased the number of yoga practitioners from almost none to 16 million

within a few decades.

People develop an interest towards particular brands

Stiles’s book, Slim Calm Sexy Yoga, was

published in the summer of 2010,

and was the number-one yoga book

on Amazon.com for several months

Yoga Journal’s net capital rose to a whopping $5.7

billion by 2008

Diversity

Branding of Yoga can provide

a secular platform for people belonging to any

religion to learn yoga

Stile’s yoga was highly secular She did not use Sanskrit words for poses

or chant in class

Thus, branding yoga can create

unity, and integrity among

people of different origin

by bringing them together

Specificity

Brands adopt different styles of yoga, thereby giving the customer ample choice regarding his/her requirements

Bikram Studios

 Commercialization

 Patenting

Commercialization

The Biggest problem

with any Branding

Patenting

Since, the merits

outnumber, and outweigh the demerits,

Branding of yoga is

justified.

This case study was done by:

Vignaesh Muthukumaar

Under the guidance of: Prof Sameer Mathur

(www.IIMinternship.com)